When a cable or conduit is inserted through a hole of a material, there are a number of methods available for protecting the cable against damage and sealing one side of the material from the other. If the cable is inserted into the interior atmosphere, of e.g. a cubicle, from the ambient atmosphere, a hole is made in the cubicle for inserting the cable.
A rubber cable entry or grommet may be tightly inserted into the hole of the cubicle, and a cable can be inserted into the cable entry, causing sealing of the interior atmosphere of the cubicle from the surrounding atmosphere. However, this type of cable entry provides no locking of the cable to the cable entry. Also, it provides no locking of the cable entry to the surrounding material and may relatively easy be pushed out of the hole. The rubber cable entry known in the art comprises flanges between which the material, in which the cable entry is inserted, is received. The flanges are extending outwardly from the hole on respective sides of the material to provide sealing. However, when the cable entry is inserted into the hole, one of the flanges has do be pushed through the hole. The material of the flange has to be compressed to pass through the hole. Alternatively, a portion of the flange is pushed through the hole at the time, wherein the material of the flange does not have to be compressed as much. However, assembling of such a cable entry is cumbersome, especially for an assembler, who might fit hundreds of cable entries each day. Still another problem with the rubber cable entry is that it only fits material having a predetermined thickness. Different thickness requires different cable entries.
Another cable entry known in the art solves the problems of locking it to the surrounding material, and locking of the cable to the cable entry. Such a cable entry is generally made of a solid material, comprising several constituent parts, with a flexible sealing core. To connect the cable entry to e.g. a cubicle, a cylindrical main part of the fitting has to be provided with a sealing-ring before being entered into a hole of the cubicle. Furthermore, the main part is provided with threads, for locking the main part to the cubicle by a threaded nut. Alternatively, the surrounding material itself is threaded. Inside the main part is a bushing provided for sealing the space surrounding the cable. Also, the main part is provided with gripping tongues, which press the bushing towards the cable, causing both sealing and locking of the cable, when a cap is threaded onto the main part.
There is a problem with the cable entry providing locking in that it comprises several constituent parts, have a space-consuming design and is cumbersome to assemble. Also, when the cable is inserted into the cable entry and the cap is threaded to press the tongues towards the cable, the cable may not be completely locked, since the cable can slip in either direction if pulled, and the tongues may damage the coating of the cable. Furthermore, although the cable entry is manually adjustable to surrounding material of different thickness, assembling of the cable entry using the nut may be cumbersome, especially if it is assembled in a narrow space.